Your Money or Your Memory

If you are concerned about losing your memory you are not alone. There have been a couple of recent surveys that are quite striking. A 2010 AARP survey found that Baby Boomers are more concerned about staying mentally sharp than running out of money. A 2011 Associated Press poll clearly showed that boomers are more afraid of losing their memory than they are of death.

Cognitive Fun - free brain gamesTheir fears have not gone unnoticed. The market for brain fitness products is projected to get up to 8 billion dollars (U.S) in sales by 2015, according to Alvaro Fernandez, CEO of SharpBrains. Pricing for products varies from free: Cognitive Fun, Brain Experiment to nominal: $80 per year for Lumosity and pricey $395 for programs from Posit Science. So, do these products actually work or are people just capitalizing on your fears? For more information go to: Is ‘Brain Training’ Worth Your Cash?

In addition to brain fitness there are memory aids such as Memo that helps people remember appointments, medications, tasks, and other important information. The user needs no knowledge of computers?information is displayed automatically. The Memo always displays the correct day, date, and time, in addition to a message line that repeats important information throughout the day. A calendar, To Do list, phone numbers, Help button, Weather, and photomemoTouch -- internet based memory aid albums can be added to make the Memo more useful and entertaining. Family caregivers can add and change messages on the Memo remotely, from wherever they have internet access, as often as needed. Several caregivers at work or in distant cities can coordinate care by viewing each others postings. The caregiver website is easy to use with only basic internet skills.

The Memo is $299. The monthly subscription to the Memo website is $29/month, with a discount for annual subscriptions. For more information go to: http://www.memotouch.com.